Wednesday

Last night was still rough for Eastin. Thankfully, he did sleep some the
first part of the night, but was up most of the time till morning. He was
miserable, running a slight fever and stuffy nose. Kyna sleeps right
through all the crying fits. We’re thankful for that.

After breakfast, we came back to the room and he slept well. So did I. I
slept for an
1 ½ straight. I felt so much better. Eastin acted like he felt better,
too.

In the afternoon, we ventured out and visited the Hanoi Hilton (prison). I
found it very interesting. Vietnam is full of old history, thousands of
years ago, and new history, things that happened such a short time ago. It
was still in 1945 that the French were housing Vietnamese prisoners. In
fact, everywhere you look is history. You can see the Chinese and French
influence easily.

I’m as interested in how they explain or set up their museums as I am the
history itself. For example, today at the Hilton the information told how
horrible the French treated the Vietnamese prisoners and then later cast a
positive light on how the American pilots were treated by the Vietnamese
during the war.

Another example was a video we watched before touring the Cu Chi tunnels
outside of HCMC. I wish I had a copy of that tape. What a teaching tool
that would be. I think it was filmed in 1967. It was all about how this
land was a peaceful place, full of childhood dreams until the big nasty
Americans from thousands of miles away invaded. It followed a peasant girl
all the way through. First she is in school, happy and joking. Then she is
planting bombs and carrying a weapon. The wording and few point was so
slanted in one direction that I almost laughed out loud. I don’t doubt
that children did fight, but it was the way everything was presented that
made it a whole other dimension to think about.

Well, back to today. After the prison, everyone was still in a good mood.
So, we took a short taxi ride down to the lake and the Old Quarter. We
ended up walking across the bridge to another temple. We were passed by a
large group of elderly women on the bridge. Not sure of their ethnicity,
but they were very happy we had two babies. Matt was packing Kyna in the
Baby Bjorn, and I was pushing Eastin in the stroller. They were all
smiling, clucking, holding up two fingers, nodding yes and several reached
out and stroked my arm saying ‘good’.

We walked back to the restaurant that sits on the lake for a snack. We’ve
been eating breakfast at the hotel, which is free, skipping lunch and then
eating supper later. Today, we were both hungry early. Plus, the last few
days have been hot here. The evenings are comfortable, but hot during the
day. I can’t imagine if Hanoi feels like this what HCMC feels like right
now. Anyway, Matt ordered ice cream, and I ordered spring rolls.
Afterwards, we went in search of fresh pineapple to take back to the hotel.
Usually, there is some lady carrying her two baskets of fruit not far away.
Well, the one time we wanted to buy, no one was right there. So, we
ventured down a side street and turned down another. There she was, a
pineapple lady. She spoke zero English. Instead she held up a bill to show
us the price of a bag of freshly cut pineapple, which was 80 cents. We
took all 3 bags that she had cut. We would have taken more, but couldn’t
get her to understand that we wanted more. I think she thought we wanted
more, but wasn’t going to give her anymore money. If we want more
tomorrow, I’ll just venture out on the streets around our hotel.

A few steps away was a man selling baskets. They were all different, but
look like the ones all the locals use to carry their fruit and vegetables
in. I bought the flat variety, 5 nestled inside one another which hopefully
means easy packing. He acted very happy with is sell. We didn’t barter
with him as I thought it was a fair price. The baskets are hand woven. I
can hardly bring myself to ask for lower prices on things. The man shook
both Matt and my hand as we walked away. Of course, he wanted to sell me
more. I tried to explain that I have no more room in my suitcase.

Tomorrow is our last day. Not sure what we’ll do. Mostly, depends on how
Eastin does tonight. We will have to pack and rest up for the trip. I’d
like to visit Ho Chi Minh’s mausoleum and residence tomorrow if we have
time.